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Sources: Popeye Jones to Join Dallas Mavericks as No. 3 Assistant Coach

Grant Afsethno comment

The Dallas Mavericks are hiring Popeye Jones as an assistant coach, sources confirmed to DallasHoopsJournal.com. He will serve as the team’s No. 3 assistant and focus on defense.

Jones replaces Jared Dudley, who left the Mavericks to join the Denver Nuggets. The move is part of a broader reshaping of Jason Kidd’s staff, which now features Frank Vogel as lead assistant and Jay Triano as the No. 2.

Jones, 55, brings 14 years of NBA coaching experience. He was most recently an assistant with the Nuggets, where he won a championship in 2023. He has also held roles with the Nets, Pacers, and 76ers.

This marks Jones’s return to Dallas. He played for the Mavericks from 1993 to 1996 and again during the 2002–03 season. He was briefly Kidd’s teammate during Kidd’s first stint with the franchise.

Jones began his coaching career in Dallas as a player development coach from 2007 to 2010. He later served as an assistant under Frank Vogel in Indiana. His stint from 2013 to 2020 included contributing to a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2014.

The Mavericks are turning to Jones to help maximize the team’s defensive impact next season. He joins a staff that now includes three former NBA head coaches.

Jones played 11 seasons in the NBA and averaged 7.0 points and 7.4 rebounds. He is also the father of NHL players Seth Jones, who recently won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers, and Caleb Jones, who plays for the Los Angeles Kings.

Dallas is expected to finalize the remainder of its coaching staff in the coming weeks.

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Tags :Dallas MavericksDenver NuggetsFrank VogelJared DudleyJason KiddNBA NewsPopeye Jones

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Grant Afseth

Grant Afseth

Senior Writer
is a Senior Writer for Dallas Hoops Journal and a lead contributor to Roundtable.io. With over a decade of experience as a credentialed journalist, Afseth provides elite tactical analysis and front-office strategy for the Mavericks, Wings, and Texas basketball. His reporting is featured across national platforms including Newsweek, RG.org, Hoops Rumors, and Athlon Sports. A primary source for the basketball community, his work is frequently cited by Wikipedia, RealGM, and Basketball-Reference. He previously served as a Mavericks and NBA reporter for Sports Illustrated's FanNation and Rockets/OnSI, as well as Ballislife, Heavy Sports, ClutchPoints, and NBA Analysis Network. During the Mavericks' 2024 NBA Finals run and the pivotal 2025 offseason—featuring his lead reporting on the Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade—he served as a featured insider for The Texas Standard and BBC Sport Radio. Afseth is a regular guest on Fox 4 Dallas and 105.3 The Fan. He previously reported for the Kokomo Tribune and Winsidr. Follow his real-time reporting on X @GrantAfseth.
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